Bored?  Wander over to the Pool and Patio Forum. Hot discussions right now include:

• The mother of  a child who was injured during a pool-chemical mixup and explosion at a holiday camp in Northern Ireland has been seeking ongoing advice and updating us on her daughter's condition.
• Scott is looking to create an outdoor living room.

Any ideas are welcome!

Artist/designer Alberto Frias' Illuminating Pod chair is a magical indoor/outdoor chair that changes colors.  Seriously groovy.

Photo at Dwell on Design LA by Lisa Hallett Taylor

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If you're the parent of a baby or toddler, or know someone who is (which covers pretty much all of us),  take a look at these photos of Aqua-Leisure inflatable pool floats.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Aqua-Leisure on July 2 announced a voluntary recall of babies' and toddlers' inflatable pool floats. About 4 million were sold from 2002 to June 2009 at stores including Target, Walmart and Kmart. Consumers should stop using the floats and contact Aqua-Leisure for information.

Photos Courtesy of Aqua-Leisure

When you think of Times Square,  a vast sea of folding lawn chairs is probably the last image you'd associate with the New York tourist attraction. That is, of course, unless you've happened to be on Broadway since Memorial Day, when about 150 brown and tan and 200 pink, green and blue lawn chairs from local hardware stores were set up as temporary seating for the new Times Square pedestrian mall.

About five blocks in the Times Square area have been closed to traffic since late May, allowing pedestrians to stretch beyond sidewalks and experience the neon grandeur from the middle of the street, without having to worry about Read more...

I attended the Dwell on Design expo last weekend at the LA Convention Center and enjoyed it even more than last year's event. To fill you in, Dwell on Design is a three-day modern design fest sponsored by the forward-thinking Dwell Magazine. Billed as the "Biggest Modern Design Event West of the Mississippi," Dwell on Design brings together Read more...

This lithograph of Michael Jackson surrounded by and leading multicultural children across a fantasy garden is similar to one that was embedded on a wall at the entrance of Neverland. I took this photo and others at the LA exhibit in April before it was set to be auctioned. Read more...

Deb started the discussion in the Pool and Patio Forum. She wanted to know what to do about the spiders' webs that are proliferating in her favorite outdoor space. Pretty soon, others added their two cents, and we've got spiders, hornets, barn swallows, starlings and "dirt daubers."

What critters would you rather not share your outdoor living space with? Join in the forum discussion, "Keeping Spiders Away."

In April, I went to opening day of the exhibition of  Michael Jackson's more than 1,000 estate items that were on exhibit in Beverly Hills prior to going to auction.  In retrospect, I'm glad I went.

What drew me there in the first place: one entire volume of the five-volume auction catalog was entitled Garden Statuary and Outdoor Furniture.  I saw it as a rare chance for readers to participate in something timely, utilitarian (planters), decorative, celebrity-glitzy, eccentric, historic and unprecedented.  Some items, like planters, had a starting bid of under $100. My thought: our Pool and Patio visitors will love this. Maybe even get a chance to bid for a pot or garden statue in the online part of the auction.

When I returned home later that night, I learned that the auction had been cancelled.  According to the Julien's Auctions website, the singer had a "change of heart" about parting with his vast and eclectic collection, which was from his Neverland Ranch.  Michael Jackson left the Neverland compound in 2006 after one of his infamous court trials. Back in its heyday, the 2,800-acre compound boasted an amusement park, zoo, gardens, statuary, furnishings and unique outdoor art and collectibles. And that was just the outside stuff.

I found the collection extraordinary and revealing of its owner: treasures from a once-brilliant career and fantasy-like items that were somewhat surreal.  If his possessions brought him joy,  I hope he had a chance to revisit the collection before his death.  Enjoy this photo gallery of the late pop star's unique collection of outdoor artifacts, along with an interview featuring Darren Julien, president and CEO of Julien's Auctions, the celebrity auction firm that invested several months of work and $2 million to make the exhibit and auction possible.

Photo Copyright Lisa Hallett Taylor, April 2009

CA Boom and Dwell on Design, Los Angeles' two biggest modern design shows, are being held on the same weekend -- this weekend, June 26-28. I'm not sure if they collaborated on this arrangement, but it will make for a busy weekend for those who decide to take in both of the events and their festivities.

I attended both last year, since they were two months apart, and found them to be rather similar. For fans of modern design or those who are open-minded and/or curious, they should enjoy both, although CA Boom might be a bit more lively and intimate because of its new setting, the former Robinson's department store in Beverly Hills (where the Michael Jackson estate exhibit was held in April). Both offer speakers, seminars and LA-area home tours.

Photo by Lisa Hallett Taylor

OK -- I'll try to be as wordless as possible. This is the mosaic patio table my daughter and I started working on last summer. Next mosaic project: the side walls and steps of the swimming pool. I'll keep you posted.  

Photo by Lisa Hallett Taylor